SPORTSBIZ -- KEVIN KLEPS

Mark Shapiro is in an upbeat mood as the Indians' season nears

The Indians will debut the Collection Auto Club for the home opener against the New York Yankees on April 8.

KYLE EMERY

The Collection Auto Club at Progressive Field

The Indians' 25-man roster has been set, and it's a group that will change a bit once Jason Giambi returns from his “back injury.”

The offseason signings of Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, Brett Myers and Mark Reynolds for a combined $117 million have provided a box-office jolt.

In Tribe president Mark Shapiro's mind, everything — the excitement, the improved roster, the added credibility for a franchise with four consecutive losing seasons — started with hiring of Terry Francona as manager on Oct. 6.

Francona has Cleveland connections — he spent part of the 1988 season with the Indians, and his father, Tito, played for the Tribe from 1959 to 1964 — and, more importantly, he has a championship pedigree. In eight seasons as the Red Sox's manager, his clubs won a pair of World Series titles and made five trips to the postseason.

His surprise hiring set the stage for an offseason that has the fans buying in after four straight seasons that failed to reach the two-million mark in attendance.

“There's clearly a lot of positive energy around the team,” Shapiro said. “On an anecdotal level, it's nice to feel a lot of positive energy. I think that's an outcome of us collectively feeling like we had to make some moves to get better after the way last year transpired. What we looked for as a theme throughout the offseason were the moves where we can leverage one move into impacting more than one player.

“So the first move was the manager,” he added. “The manager is one spot where that person has the capability to impact more than one player. He can impact the clubhouse culture, he can impact the fan base, and the one thing about Terry is he has an unbelievable passion for the game, respect for the game, bond with the game. But he's also got a positive energy and a positive attitude that's infectious.”

More than two months after the Tribe hired Francona, the Indians' intense recruiting of Swisher resulted in the outfielder agreeing to a four-year, $56 million contract. Bourn followed less than two months after that, and the Tribe, whose biggest signing the offseason before was first baseman Casey Kotchman, all of a sudden had signed a pair of players to contracts averaging at least $12 million per season.

“I really thought the two moves between he and Nick Swisher — more than anything, those two are linked, because they're two guys with a tie to Cleveland,” Shapiro said of Francona and the popular first baseman and outfielder who was a standout at Ohio State. “They're two guys who had alternatives but made decisions to want to be here, and I think there's a power to that, both with our players and with our fan base. In a lot of ways, in a game where leadership is not defined conventionally, those guys represent leadership for the rest of the team right now.”

When I met with Shapiro two weeks ago for the Crain's story that is linked above, I asked if he felt the fans' feelings toward the franchise had changed significantly in the past three months.

The sale of SportsTime Ohio to Fox Sports netted the Dolans at least $230 million, and the network is paying the Tribe approximately $40 million per year in broadcast rights.

Within about seven weeks of the Fox Sports deal, the Indians had spent between $117 million and $151 million (depending on whether or not Swisher and Bourn vest options for the fifth seasons of their respective contracts) in free agency.

Instead of fans griping about the Dolans not spending money, they are breaking down the roster and wondering if the pitching staff will allow a vastly improved lineup and a solid bullpen to be a pennant contender.

“It's significant,” Shapiro said of the positive reactions he has heard from fans. “It went from people not knowing what to say when they talk to you to people clearly being enthusiastic and looking forward to the season with great anticipation. The nature of our jobs, I cautiously accept those emotions because I'm thinking about the areas of the team that are far from perfect.

“I am confident we are better, but we're still far from a perfect team, and you're always thinking about what could go wrong,” he added. “It's the nature of these jobs. I've never felt like the goal was to win the offseason. The goal is to materially make the club better and progress to a championship team. And I do feel like we've taken steps to do that, but I still feel like our starting pitching is uncertain, and that creates some area of concern from me as we move into the season.”

What can't be argued is the Tribe has finally the changed the debate from money not spent to aspects of the roster that need to be tweaked.

KYLE EMERY

The Collection Auto Club at Progressive Field

Tribe tidbits

The Collection Auto Club, which was unveiled in a reception last week, is 95% occupied, the Indians said. The 5,000-square-foot lounge began the offseason with 100 available seats on a season-ticket-only basis. The club is part of the team's push to make Progressive Field more modern as it enters its 20th season.

“That's worked out well,” Shapiro said. “I think it fills a niche need for the ballpark over time. As the suites and the club seats have evolved, they've become a great seat with a built-in food option, but maybe less of a premium. So something between a suite and the club suites was needed. It's also an opportunity for us to test that before we ever consider making larger changes to the ballpark going forward.”

As we reported Monday, the Indians are working on a “ballpark plan” to address Progressive Field's infrastructure and amenities. The park debuted in 1994, and Shapiro is thinking about “the next 25 years.”

“We've done a ton of due diligence just understanding the structure of the ballpark,” he said. “We still have a ways to go before we formulate a plan as to how we execute that and even where definitively it needs (addressed). The things like the Premium Club, even the Kids Clubhouse (which debuted last season). … We're testing some other seats this year. We continue to look at what's going to best suit the fans not just today, but going forward, which is a hard thing to do.”

Mark Klang, the owner of Amazing Tickets Inc., a Mayfield Village ticket broker, doesn't believe the Indians' signing of Bourn was the final incentive fans needed to believe they should follow the team's investments with some of their own.

“It's difficult to say,” Klang said when asked last week if there was a time this offseason in which he noticed the fans' interest had increased. “When they signed Swisher, we didn't see anything at all. But that is typical for that time of the year. It was right around the holidays, and January is always a slow time. There was a big spike when they signed Bourn, but I don't think it was Bourn related.

“There always seems to be a big spike when spring training starts, and that was a late signing (the contract was finalized Feb. 15). I would guess 80% of Indians fans didn't know who Michael Bourn is. He's just one of those special tool-type players who played in the National League. Eighty percent of fans probably couldn't pick him out of a lineup of players before the season. I'm not saying it's not a good signing. They spent money. I think if there was a spike it was because of that.”

Readers are solely responsible for the content of the comments they post here. Comments are subject to the site's terms and conditions of use and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or approval of Crain's Cleveland Business. Readers whose comments violate the terms of use may have their comments removed or all of their content blocked from viewing by other users without notification. Comments may be used in the print edition at editorial discretion.